


The Totally Normal Adventures of Joshua “Not Marissa’s Boyfriend” Mann, Screenwriter

by Anefi



Series: Anefi's Transformers Works [8]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Holoforms (Transformers), Other, Robot/Human Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27089365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anefi/pseuds/Anefi
Summary: “So,” Marissa said. “Why did you want to—” she waved her hand to encompass the whole. Situation. Thundercracker shrugged, his arms full of puppy. She wouldn’t be surprised if the entire reason he installed the mod was to make it easier to pet Buster and play fetch.“I read online that to really understand someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes, but not literally,” he said. “They were clear about getting your own shoes. So, I figured—” he lifted up a human-sized holo-boot and wiggled it in the air.
Relationships: Marissa Faireborn/Thundercracker
Series: Anefi's Transformers Works [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918825
Comments: 20
Kudos: 73





	The Totally Normal Adventures of Joshua “Not Marissa’s Boyfriend” Mann, Screenwriter

A blue jet with wings was sitting in the corner, power low, lights dim, but Thundercracker himself was, for once, exactly her height, dwarfed by the echoing hangar of his living room and the art junkyard furniture. As she found herself all too often, Marissa had one hand crossed over her chest and the other massaging her temples.

“Let me get this straight,” she said, “You could have looked like a human this whole time? You just needed one of these—hologram upgrades?”

Thundercracker sheepishly reached up to rub a knuckle on his helm and startled when he found tightly coiled black hair instead. “Ha, well. Somebody posted the specs on the message board a while ago, but I’m not really an engineer,” he said, and then, “Do you like it?” which she wasn’t going to answer. She twirled her finger in the air and did her best to look disinterested as he slowly turned in a circle with his arms out. White button-down shirt, crisp jeans, boots. The bomber jacket was the worst kind of pun, but other than that, it wasn’t bad at all. Way too much like Ricky Whittle with chin-length dreadlocks; he _did_ listen to her. Damn it, he was smiling.

“Cybertronians have message boards?” she asked.

“No—well, I guess, yeah, but The Big Conversation is the only one worth reading. I’m not going to join an _Autobot_ board. What would they even talk about? How great the Primacy was? I’d rather stick rocks in my thrusters.” The way his nose wrinkled was just. _Right_ in her face. Ugh.

Buster toddled up and dropped a soggy tennis ball on his shoe. “Good girl,” he said happily, and bent down to pick her up. The pug mix was already used to human-Thundercracker, because his highest priority had been making sure she trusted his hardlight avatar, even when she was worried about the way his regular blue frame wasn’t moving. She was a smart dog. In some ways. It probably helped that his voice was the same, almost, just without the deep resonance of his engine behind it.

“So,” she said loudly. “Why did you want to—” she waved her hand to encompass the whole. Situation. He shrugged, his arms full of puppy. Marissa wouldn’t be surprised if the entire reason he installed the mod was to make it easier to pet Buster and play fetch.

“I read online that to really understand someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes, but not literally,” he said. “They were clear about getting your own shoes. So, I figured—” he lifted up a human-sized holo-boot and wiggled it in the air.

“Uh huh,” she said. “Experience life like the little people do, is that it?”

“You’re only small compared to the galactic statistical average for Class IV species and higher.”

“Right.” Her gaze automatically slipped to the point over his shoulder where his wings would normally be, looking for the little waggle they did when he ‘successfully’ landed a ‘joke.’ He gently set down Buster, who snuffled off after her ball. When Thundercracker stood up again, Marissa’s eyes snapped back to his face, a little guiltily, from the jet in the corner.

“I was also thinking this might make it easier to, um.” He bit his lip, then visibly steeled himself. “Marissa,” he said earnestly, and she knew they were headed towards dangerous territory. “We’ve never talked about it seriously, because of the—physical logistics. With me being building-sized. But there’s something I’ve wanted to try, for a while. I think it would be good. A good experience. For me, and, hopefully, for whoever I—if I could find somebody—” Marissa braced herself for the worst. “I want to sign up for a writing class.”

She knew it. “Thundercracker—”

“I know, I know! I understand the security concerns, believe me, I just—”

“If anyone figures out that you’re an alien robot—”

“But I’m not even dangerous like this! Not any more than you are. I wouldn’t even have a gun!”

“TC, it’s dangerous for _you_.”

That shut him up for a second. “Not if you’re there to watch my back,” he said, demonstrating a—well, a perhaps unwise but still gratifying level of trust. He looked at her with eyes wide with hope, almost holding his breath. He didn’t even need to breathe. _Ugh_.

“What kind of range can you get with this emitter, anyway? It doesn’t matter if you look like a human walking around if we still have to park a jet on the roof.”

The longer he wore the holoform, the less he stopped looking like anyone else, or maybe she was just getting used to it. His eyes were the same, even when they were warm brown instead of burning red; serious and hooded, but quick to crinkle up in the corners with one of his little smiles. He looked the most like himself when he was grinning at her. Like now.

“That’s not a yes,” she said. “I’m saying we can look into it, okay?”

He took a quick step toward her, too quick, and froze with his hands out when she automatically shifted to a defensive stance. “Sorry,” she said, dropping it as soon as she realized, at the same time he said, “Is it okay if I—”

“Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Come here.”

She was still a little stiff when he hugged her; there wasn’t really anyone else in her life she—it had been a while, and no other experience could quite compare. Warm and electric, but solid, real, his touch left a tingle around her shoulders, down the plane of her back, against her cheek. He smelled like ozone, like the air after a blaster shot, and a little bit like Buster.

“Huh,” he said, as they stood looking at each other afterward. “That’s a lot easier without kibble in the way.”

All things considered, he was an important ally for Earth, and an important friend to _her_ , and—he really didn’t ask for much. She wanted to make it work.

And if it meant his screenplays might actually get better, well, that wasn’t her _most_ pressing concern, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing, either.


End file.
